Library Haul

Library Lion is the story of a lion who wants to visit the library, but must learn the rules first (no running, you must be quiet) because the head librarian, Miss Merriweather is a stickler for the rules. And since there is no rule against lions being in the library, he's allowed to stay. He returns everyday for story hour and helps Miss Merriweather with tasks like dusting the encyclopedias, licking envelopes, and returning books to their proper place. But the lion and the librarian both learn that sometimes rules can be broken, if you have a good enough reason.

This is one I checked out for myself (it would be waaay over Isla's head.) A Poem for Peter is about Ezra Jack Keats's life, and the first picture book to prominently feature a non-white child, The Snowy Day. Keats had a hard life as the child of immigrant parents who fled Poland to escape persecution as Jews and landed in America not long before the Great Depression. Keats recognized a huge gap in childrens literature - children of color and children in urban settings were not represented at all. So when the opportunity came to write his own book, he wrote about Peter, a little boy exploring the snow in the city. This was a beautiful book about Keats and how he made great strides toward inclusion in children's publishing.

I've featured Sleep Like A Tiger before, but I just love it so much. It's a perfect book to read at bedtime when you're trying to get your kids to settle down, dang it. A small girl insists that she's not tired and does not want to go to bed (sounds like every night at my house.) So her parents tell her about all the things in the world that go to sleep. The illustrations are mellow and beautiful and the text is perfect for reading quietly and slowly. Make this the last book you read at bedtime, and your kiddo should drop right off to sleep. (Well, a mom can dream, right?)

To change course a little bit, Wolfie the Bunny is not a super mellow book. One day, the Bunny family come home to find a baby wolf bundled up on their doorstep. Mama Bunny and Papa bunny immediately fall in love, but Dot isn't so sure. She's pretty certain the wolf is going to eat them all up, until one day when a big bear tries to eat Wolfie. Pick this one up at the library to see the epic - and cute - resolution.

Shy made the rounds pretty hard in the #bookstagram community when it came out last September. I finally see why. This is one of the most beautifully illustrated picture books I've ever seen. It's the story of Shy, an animal who is so shy that she hides in between the pages of the book until the last few pages. She loves book and birds and finally hears a bird sing for the first time, but is too shy to approach her. By the time she works up the courage to emerge, the bird has flown away, and even though she's scared, Shy decides to follow and try to find her. She explores the world and finds that real life, outside of the pages of a book, are even more beautiful than she could have imagined. I'll be adding this one to our collection asap. It's gorgeous.








Have you guys read any of these? What's the best picture book you read this week?